The context of his answer wasn't really just winning with young talent. It was winning with young and cheap talent, which maintains flexibility. What the guys listed have in common is that they all made 2 mill or less here. Obviously the starters were the better and more productive players, but that's why they got paid the big bucks. You would still need help to plug in holes and back up spots and those guys weren't overpaid. Morris didn't play much, but i believe Morey's point was those were the kind of guys waiting on the bench to step in. Smith stepped in for a stretch when we needed a big man. On the other hand, you have a team like Toronto who had Calderon as their back up while he made 10 mill a year. How the heck do you change for the better, if your back up is taking up so much cap room? You can't move a back up on the contract and he's taking up money that could be better spent. Same goes for a team like detroit. they screwed themselves with the huge deals they gave gordon and Villanueva. Those guys were closer to being back ups than consistent starters, so it's almost like having two Calderons. Those are teams truly stuck because they can't make a change overnight, like Houston just did. Toronto's future is barely getting brighter now, thanks in large part to Jonas V dropping. Detroit is stuck and not really doing anything. Still trying to free itself little by little. I guess the difference is we were on the treadmill because of a plan that was unfolding, we were just passing by, while other teams are on it because they have to be and are trapped and forced to wait things out. Imagine having a player like Drew Gooden, making like 7 mill for a few more years and coming off the bench because he's not playing well enough to start? It happens to some teams...
Well, direct dollars, yes. But what isn't taken into account is how many thousands or millions of people around the world will be more inclined to be Rockets fans versus, say, Kings fans. That exposure isn't going to be seen directly in dollar amounts (I'm sure Les Alexander has figured out some metrics in this regard, though). It's kind of like how the Atlanta Braves had their national following as "America's Team" by being nationally broadcast on TBS for years.
The league operates under a revenue sharing system for all marketing, merchandise, jerseys, endorsement, TV, etc. that comes globally. This was explored numerous times from the Yao Ming era, and the controversy "some posters" tried to imply about Les and the Rockets milking dollars from the Yao market. Virtually the only thing that the individual team can collect revenue on is the banners inside their arena. Thats literally about it. Everything gets shared between all the NBA teams. Now, Les obviously did the smart thing to seek business opportunities in China as any smart business man would do, but as far the Rockets go, there really isn't very much individually they can do to milk Jeremy Lin for revenue from the Asian market. Its still in the leagues best interest to seek whatever business opportunities they can for the overall health of the league.
This is correct that the ROCKETS have to share Lin related revenue. But the open doors lead to business ventures and joint ventures with China that will be done under companies owned by Alexander and NOT by the Rockets. Those don't get shared or reported. It is hard to calculate the vale of those business opportunities. His many millionaires or billionaires would lick their chops at a golden ticket to meet the people of power and influence in China?
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Read my entire post please. Im not trying to come down on you here, but I can see where this whole Jeremy Lin made-up exploitation thing is going to go here very soon on Clutchfans. Any SMART business man would take advantage of these opportunties. With Les and Yao, yes he opened some relationships over in China. Much of it was overblown by posters like DD who had ZERO evidence to backup his claims. The largest business venture that was recorded was Les' brand of wine that was introduced in China.... Really.... come on. Those kind of business ventures are just for play. In no way did he ever "EXPLOIT" that relationship. Yao and Les still have a great relationship that worked well for everyone. Calling him his cash-cow, and claiming that he exploited him for personal wealth is ridiculous. Les made his billions on the US stock market just other billionaires have done in the past. Give the guy a break for selling some damn wine in China if he wants to. Again, what somewhat intelligent business man would not take advantage of business opportunities overseas??? Fact is though, if Lin is a good player on the basketball court, then why does it matter? If the Rockets were just taking on Asian players just to exploit them for their Asian appeal, why is Yi Jianlian not on the Rockets???
Apologize for missing the rest of your post. Agree that Alexander is a smart business man and would take advantage of the opportunities. I was mostly speaking to the fact (raised by many) that there is not major benefit to the Rockets off the court (which I generally agree but the benefit still helps). However I suspect there may be ventures and opportunities that have not been reported. In any case, I agree that Lin playing well is critical to Alexander's and the Rockets fulfilling the business dream. I am in the camp that thinks the deal has a good chance to be good even as an on the court proposition. It's not like Dragic has that many more starts under his belt, and I would have been just as happy if he money had gone to Dragic. On the other hand, if we do trade for Howard (not yet certain), I think having Lin could be a linchpin to keeping Howard assuming Lin plays well.
